Etymograph

English

sextary

Sextary comes from Latin sextārius ‘pint’, from sextus ‘sixth’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs ‘six’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱs1‘six’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱstos1‘sixth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekstos1‘sixth’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsextus1‘sixth’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsextārius2‘pint’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sextarie2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1866sextary2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sextarius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sextary
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “The sextary seems to have contained 6 gallons, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱsWiktionary, Latin sextarius‘six’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱstosWiktionary, Latin sextarius‘sixth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekstosWiktionary, Latin sextarius‘sixth’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsextusWiktionary, Latin sextarius‘sixth’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsextāriusWiktionary, English sextary‘pint’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sextarieWiktionary, English sextary
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1866sextaryWiktionary, English sextary. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “The sextary seems to have contained 6 gallons, and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs ‘six’

six, hexane, 15 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of sextarius, an ancient Roman unit of volume

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sextary”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sextarius. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs / sextary

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